WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Freshman Kate Brunet (Bristol, Conn.) recorded a career-high 22 points along with nine rebounds Saturday afternoon to lead Eastern Connecticut State University to a 96-80 victory over Plymouth State University in a Little East Conference women’s basketball game at Geissler Gymnasium.

The Warriors, playing their first home game since Dec. 10, improved to 10-2 overall and 4-1 in the LEC. ECSU’s only losses this season have come to Southern Maine and Bowdoin, which are currently ranked #1 and #3, respectively, in the D3hoops.com national poll. PSU lost for the fourth time in its last five outings, slipping to 5-8 overall and 2-3 in conference play.

The Panthers were led by junior McKenzie Ferguson (Conway, N.H.), who finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Junior Ashley White (Merrimack, N.H.) added 14 points and classmate Kaitlin Linehan (South Boston, Mass.) chipped in with 11 points and six boards.

Joining Brunet among Eastern’s scoring leaders were sophomore Stephanie Smith (Penacook, N.H.) with 18 points and nine rebounds, and freshman Ashley McFetridge (Canton, Conn.) and senior Lindsey Karsmarski (Meriden, Conn.) with 15 points apiece. Karsmarski has now made a three-point basket in 29 straight games, four games away from the school record.

It was anyone’s game the first nine minutes, with the home team holding merely a three-point lead (15-12). Eastern then went on a 15-4 run to take a 14-point lead (30-16), and maintained an 18-point advantage at the intermission (45-27).

The Warriors maintained a double-digit lead most of the second half. The margin went as high as 23 points on several occasions before PSU rallied to cut the deficit to eight points (82-74) with just under five minutes remaining, but the Panthers could get no closer.

PSU returns home to play four of its next five at Foley Gymnasium, beginning Tuesday (5:30 p.m.) against Southern Maine, the top-ranked team in Division III. ECSU is home again on Tuesday in an LEC match-up against Keene State (5:30 p.m.)